


AVP; Aloy vs Predator

by muppet8003



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game), Predator Original Series (1987-1990)
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-01-31 13:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18592615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muppet8003/pseuds/muppet8003
Summary: In the midst of a sweltering heatwave, Aloy sets off on what should of been a simple errant for the Carja Sundom. She quickly learns it will be anything but.





	1. Chapter 1

Part 1

“By All Mother, it’s hot.” a sweaty Aloy exclaimed as she made her way through the jungle that covered the southern region of the Carja Sundom. Clad in her Carja Blazon to try and keep cool, the Nora Seeker was tracking a missing patrol, bow and spear on her back and sling on her hip. The soldiers had failed to report in two days before, but with tensions raising with the Shadow Carja, Sun King Avad couldn’t spare any troops to look for them.

“Someday, I’m going to learn to mind my own business,” Aloy muttered, wiping the sweat from her brow as she followed the trail highlighted by her Focus. “Once I get these guys back to Meridian, I think I’ll finally let Vanasha take me to the spa. Try one of those mud baths she loves so much.”

The redheaded huntress continued tracking her quarry, avoiding machines with practiced ease as she did so. Aloy raised a curious eyebrow as she noticed the patrol’s trail became more and more erratic after they’d veered off from their route. Frowning in concern, the Nora girl picked up her pace, hoping the soldiers were alright. Minutes later, she emerged into a clearing where trail abruptly ended. 

There had clearly been a fight; the grass was stained with blood, arrows, weapons and even a Carja helmet where scattered around. However, there was one thing that was off about the small battlefield. 

“Where are the bodies?” Aloy wondered as she glanced around the clearing. She reset her Focus to track the blood, only to be confused when the highlighted trail went up the side of a tree. The redhead wondered if one of the Carja had climbed it to escape the massacre below. She soon learned how wrong she was.

Suspended by their ankles from the tree were seven flayed bodies.

Aloy staggered back in horror, her right hand reflexively covering her mouth when she almost retched. The teenage Nora turned away from the atrocity and took several deep breaths.

“Calm down, Aloy, think; who could of done this?” Latching onto the distraction, and careful to keep her back to the bodies, the huntress ran through possible culprits, “Eclipse? No, as bad as they are they just kill people. Anyway, they wouldn’t want to draw this much attention. Bandits? Never came across a clan this vicious...Nil?” 

Aloy didn’t quite want to believe the charming, yet murderous, Carja had gone that far off the deep end. Nevertheless, the now calmed Nora rose back her full height, deciding to scan the scene in hopes of finding any new clues. The first thing she noticed was that there was no sign of anyone but the Carja having been there. No destroyed machines, no arrows or weapons that weren’t of Carja design. “Weird, there should be some trace of who attacked them. Surely they tried to defend themselves, and they would of had explosives and at least one heavy weapon.”

Her thoughts were cut off, however, when a message from her Focus appeared.

Unknown Biological Matter Detected.

Curious, Aloy approached the exclamation point icon the Focus was projecting, finding a small puddle of...green fluid...that glowed? Aloy had a brief impulse to touch the substance, but stopped herself, remembering that even her Focus couldn’t say what it was.

“It said this stuff was biological, so this came from an animal?” Having hunted and fished for food all her life, Aloy was very familiar with the creatures of the Wilds and she’d never encountered anything with green bodily fluids, let alone any that glowed. Noticing green in her peripheral vision, the Seeker looked up to see another splash of the mysterious substance. “Whatever left this stuff probably had something to do with...what happened to those men.”

She was about to set off, but hesitated, forlornly looking back up at the unfortunate soldiers. The young Brave knew she couldn't do much for them, but it didn't feel right to leave human beings hanging like meat waiting to be butchered. Pulling her spear from her back, Aloy moved back into the clearing. As she cut down the bodies, the huntress hoped they'd already been dead when they were flayed, shuddering at the thought of helpless men screaming prayers to the Sun as they were skinned alive. With nothing else to be done, she turned back to the mysterious substance and exited the grizzly clearing.

Aloy followed the trail of green liquid further into the steaming jungle, for once not needing to rely on her Focus. The redhead noticed the glowing blood(?) stains were growing smaller and thinner, sighing in frustration when they seemed to disappear altogether. She was about to scan the area with her Focus when a voice whisper-shouted “Over here!”

“Over here!” the voice insisted when Aloy hesitated, reflexively crouching low and drawing her bow. She cautiously approached the patch of tall red grass the sound was coming from. She had just caught site of a man in Carja armor when he fearfully hissed “By the Sun, get down!”

Taking heed, Aloy quickly hid from whatever had the man so afraid in the red grass, as she’d done many times before. Now able to get a better look at the soldier, the huntress could see that he seemed to have been through hell. He’d lost his helmet, and his fancy armor and uniform were tattered and filthy. He had the wild eyes of a man at his wits' end and was tightly clutching his battle axe level with the ground. Looking at the weapon, Aloy noticed some of the green fluid on the blade. 

The apparent survivor of the massacre Aloy had discovered, nervously scanned the area, looking up toward the trees. “I don’t think it saw you.”

Aloy also glanced up at the trees, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary, looked back to the half crazed Carja soldier. “What didn’t see me? What’s going on?”

“There’s...something out here in the jungle,” the soldier explained, “It butchered my entire patrol. We found some mutilated bodies, bandits maybe, and then some kinda monster came at us from out of the fuckin’ trees!”

Aloy was about to question the man further then she noticed three red dots, forming a triangle, moving across the man’s chest. Moment’s later, a blue-white blast flew over the Nora girl’s right shoulder, close enough to feel the wind as it passed. Seemingly in slow motion, she dropped flat on her stomach as the blast struck the soldier in the center of his chest, blasting a hole big enough to fit her arm through clean through him.

The redheaded Brave quickly rose into a kneeling position, spinning on her heel and raising her bow to where the projectile had come from. At first, Aloy couldn’t see anything, but she could hear a strange clicking sound from above. She followed the sound to see what seemed to be a vaguely humanoid shape standing on a large branch some twenty feet up. It seemed to shimmer, making Aloy think it may of been a trick of the light and heatwaves, until a pair of yellow eyes flashed at her.

Aloy’s blood turned to ice when she noticed the same three dots moving up her bow arm, across her face, and finally settling between her eyes. She could swear the translucent figure locked eyes with her before it grunted a single word.

“Run.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Aloy leapt to her feet and sprinted away from the creature into the sweltering jungle. She weaved through the trees, zig-zagging, jumping logs, and doing anything she could to put as many obstacles between her and the creature as possible. Nevertheless it still somehow felt like the thing was right on the sweaty redhead’s tail. This would prove to be more then mere paranoia when another blast hit a tree she was heading toward, forcing the girl to abruptly change directions. 

Spotting another patch of the red grass that had hidden her so many times before, an increasingly desperate Aloy slid into the tall foliage, hoping to simply let her pursuer pass. After scanning the treetops around her for what felt like hours, she finally spotted the tall-tale shimmer, looking right back at her. The clicking that fallowed seemed to take on a mocking tone.

“The son of a bitch is playing with me!” Aloy grumbled as she again desperately sprinted through the jungle. The Seeker’s mad dash took her toward a cliff overlooking a raging river below. Spotting a thick tree growing out over the side of the cliff, the kind she often used to rappel, Aloy sprinted toward what could be her last hope, slipping her bow onto her back. She rushed for the Y shaped tree, not even breaking stride as she ran the length of the tree itself and jumped off. Despite the dire situation, Aloy felt the familiar rush of adrenaline as she twisted in midair and tossed her grappling hook back at the tree. 

Just before the rope could become taut, another of the blue-white blasts flew toward the tree the red haired girl had anchored herself to, leaving Aloy to watch helplessly as the tree exploded in a shower of sparks and splinters. A terrified scream ripped forth from Aloy’s mouth as she plummeted to the river below. 

Aloy slammed painfully into the river, feeling a shock to her system as she was submerged in the cold water. Suddenly deprived of air and yanked along by the fast current, the girl frantically tried to follow the air bubbles around her to the surface. She finally burst up above the water, just managing to take a deep breath of air before she was dunked under the cold water again. She just managed to avoid slamming into several rocks before mercifully surfacing again. Just in time to see a fast approaching waterfall. 

Aloy braced herself and managed to orient herself to fall feet first as she plummeted down. Surfacing again and near exhaustion, she allowed the current to pull her along through several hundred more yards of rapids, culminating in a second drop over a waterfall. 

The huntress was relieved to find she’d finally passed the rapids and swam to the bank. Spotting an inviting patch of muddy beach, the young Brave took a breath and swam toward it. She tried to crawl up onto the riverbank, only to slip and suddenly find herself submerged in mud. Grasping at the edges of the mud puddle, Aloy clawed her way out and belly crawled to somewhat more stable ground, coughing and spitting muck. Sore, physically and mentally exhausted, and covered head to toe in mud, but happy to have escaped the creature, Aloy sighed in relief and collapsed on the muddy ground.

Then she heard a splash behind her.

Springing up and looking over her shoulder, Aloy could see a ripple in the water casually approaching. “Oh. Come. On.”

The muddy redhead desperately crawled away from the approaching invisible menace, only to find herself in the roots of a fallen tree. To tired to run again, Aloy reflexively reached for her bow or spear, only learn she’d apparently lost them somewhere during her river ordeal. Whimpering in fear, she backed as far as she possibly could from the strange being as it casually approached the riverbank. 

At first, all Aloy could make out was the same shimmer she’d spotted before, but suddenly, electricity began to shoot up around it, almost like the beast had triggered a Shock Trap. Whatever the thing was using to hide itself seemed to flicker on and off, giving the mud shocked human quick glimpses of the reptilian creature underneath the small bolts of electricity streaking across it’s body. Once the creature was fully out of the water, stepping up onto a rock, it casually adjusted something on a device mounted on it’s left wrist. In moments, the electricity disappeared and Aloy got her first good look at the thing.

The beast was huge, easily seven feet tall with a muscular build and clad in armor, making Aloy wonder how it (he?) had kept up with her, jumping from tree to tree, no less. His skin was green and reptilian, with clawed fingers and toes. The teen gulped when she noticed a pair of cruelly serrated blades mounted on his right wrist. His face was covered by an armored mask, though the young huntress could see long braids, or perhaps huge single hairs, hanging to just below his shoulders. The girl noticed primitive embellishments, such as a necklace of bones and what Aloy thought might be talismans.

The redhead’s heart skipped a beat when she noticed a human skull in a small mesh bag hanging from the creature’s hip. It was wrapped with blue wires, the kind Banuk Shaman weaved through their skin. Moments later, Aloy noticed several of the long red feathers Carja soldiers wore on their helmets also fastened to the creature’s belt. The large brute was wearing an Oseram gauntlet and a type of shoulder pad popular among Nora Braves, though they looked more like decorations then actual armor.

How many people had this beast killed?

The way the items were displayed, like a hunter showing off fresh trophies reminded Aloy of her last visit to the Hunter’s Lodge in Meridian. A comment about the heatwave had prompted an amused Talanah to tell her stories about a beast that came in the hottest summers to hunt humans and take trophies the way hunters of The Lodge took trophies from machines.

The Sun Hawk had laughed, assuring Aloy it was just a silly ghost story.

The Nora girl was snapped back to the present when the creature, quite casually, scanned the riverbank. Aloy gripped the roots around her so tight her knuckles white under the thick layer of mud as the beast looked directly at her.

And passed by.

Aloy barely had time to be bewildered before something did indeed catch the creature’s attention. She watched as some kind of metal device on his shoulder unfolded itself. The odd little gadget followed the creature’s gaze as he looked to Aloy’s left. The three dots she had quickly grown to fear sprang forth from the monster’s mask. Moments later, a blue-white projectile shot out of the tube like device, seemingly at nothing.

The blast seemed to explode in midair, sparks and debris flying through the air. Willing herself to remain perfectly still as the shrapnel rained around her, Aloy watched as a Stalker decloaked, it’s head blown to bits, and collapsed into a heap. The creature growled, a deep, menacing sound and scanned the surrounding area, his shoulder mounted weapon following his gaze as he did. Seeming to find nothing, the creature let out what sounded like a disappointed huff and his weapon folded itself neatly back into place. With that, the monster took it’s leave, not even glancing back at Aloy.

After waiting a short eternity, Aloy allowed herself to breath and move again. The creature was truly gone, it wasn’t toying with her anymore, as she’d initially feared. She breathed a sigh of relief, softly muttered, “He couldn’t see me...but how?”

She moved to wipe the mud away when it suddenly occurred to her; had the mud hidden her? But how? The beast had easily spotted her time and again, tracking Aloy seemingly by sight from the treetops and easily dispatched a cloaked Stalker. At that thought, Aloy glanced at the ruined machine, seeing that the burnt wreckage of it’s head was just cooling down. 

Cooling down.

Heat.

“He sees heat,” Aloy stated, falling back on her habit of running through her thoughts out loud. “That’s how he could always see me before but not now. And how he spotted the Stalker.”

Filing this new information away, Aloy quickly searched the nearby riverbed, managing to recover her weapons, though most of her ammunition was lost. Deciding against washing the mud off, she ventured away from the river into the jungle. The tired huntress found a well shaded area and sat down, leaned against a tree to rest and think. The creature had lost track of her, and she’d found a way to hide from it. Escape was an option. But then the creature would still be loose in the jungle, preying on anyone unlucky enough to cross it’s path. With that, Aloy’s mind was made up.

“I’m going to kill that bastard.”


	2. AVP-Aloy Vs Predator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After barely escaping the Predator, Aloy prepares to take the fight to her alien attacker. Only one of them will survive the night.

Part 2

Aloy looked over her meager resources. She’d managed to recover her bow, spear, and sling, but nearly all of her ammunition was lost in the river. She’d only managed to find four arrows, one Tearblast and three standard, and a single Freeze bomb. It was very little, though being able to blow some of the beast’s equipment right off with the Tearblast arrow would come in handy.

“I’m going to need something more,” Aloy muttered, sitting back and hugging her muddy knees, “But what?”

#*#*#

The Predator settled comfortably in the cave he’d taken as his current lair, looking over the trophies he’d collected. It had been a thrilling hunt, to match wits with the only race his people had ever encountered who could shoot back was unlike any hunt he’d ever been on, even if they were far more primitive then the ones his ancestors had hunted. Even the Elders weren’t sure how the oomans had returned from extinction, at the hands of their own machines, no less. However they’d conspired to cheat death, the Predator was very pleased they had.

The seasoned hunter clicked in amusement as he thought of the small ooman female he’d toyed with that afternoon. Chasing her through the jungle had been an absolute joy, though it was a shame she’d managed to slip away. The Predator sighed in disappointment, the ooman girl’s skull, with her long mane still attached, would of made a great conversation piece when he returned home. 

With a determined, guttural sound, the Predator rose to his feet and turned toward the cave’s entrance. He still had time before his hunt ended. He was going to get the longhaired ooman’s skull.

#*#*#

Crouching low to the ground, Aloy scanned the surrounding area with her Focus, smiling in satisfaction when her device detected a Sawtooth. She tagged the huge, catlike machine and highlighted the route it was using to patrol the area. Happy to have a familiar task at hand, she stealthily made her way to a patch of thick foliage the Sawtooth would soon pass right next too.

The huntress patiently waited as her quarry approached, taking note of the large, automated feline’s powerful sabertoothed jaws and swiping claws. As the mechanical beast came within ten paces of her, Aloy drew her spear, flipping it around so that the Override Component she’d attached to the end was at the ready.

Aloy remained perfectly still until the Sawtooth was almost close enough to step on her and then pounced.

#*#*#

From their elevated position, the people of Meridian were treated to sweeping views of the surrounding jungle, rivers, and canyons. On a clear day, the desert just north of the city was visible. In the richer districts, the Sun King, Sun Priests, and nobles could see as far as the very borders of the Carja Sundom. Safe on their mesa, looking out at the beautiful landscape, it was easy for the city’s population to forget about the dangers lurking within. The jungle region to the south of the capitol had even been named ‘The Jewel’.

As such, it came as quite a surprise to the citizens of Meridian when a massive blue flash from the jungle briefly light up the night.

#*#*#

As the sun disappeared behind the treeline, Aloy carefully applied a fresh coat of mud to herself. She was careful to make sure she covered her body roughly equally, shielding her from the creature’s vision. When the huntress was satisfied, she set off into the jungle, heading for a familiar area patrolled by one of the largest machines in the world.

The Tallneck was right where Aloy remembered, and the muddy redhead climbed to one of the ledges she knew it would pass and waited. Once the massive but eloquent machine was close enough, Aloy leapt onto it with practiced ease and climbed it’s neck, pulling herself onto it’s head just as the sun fully set. She brought up the overridden machine’s holographic controls and was pleased to see she could manually send out one of the electric waves Tallnecks emitted upon the Nora girl overriding them. With a deep breath, Aloy rose to her full height and looked out over the jungle.

“YOU WANT ME?!” Aloy shouted at the top of her lungs, “HERE I AM!!”

She stomped down of the holographic control pad and jumped off the Tallneck’s head, tossing her grapple hook as the blue shockwave sprang forth. Aloy felt the familiar slight tingle as it passed over her, lighting up the surrounding area in a beautiful yet eerie dark blue as it spread in ever direction, disabling machines and briefly illuminating everything in sight. 

As suddenly as the impromptu light show had begun it was over, just as Aloy had reppelled to the ground. Without a moment to waste, she set off into the trees. The Beast would be there soon.

#*#*#

The Predator looked up in near awe at the echoing challenge, and the glowing, domed signal that had accompanied it. He thought he recognized the bold voice and a quick comparison to his mask’s recording confirmed that it was the very ooman female he was stalking. Impressed, he tracked the blue blast to it’s origin and set off.

The challenge had been excepted.

#*#*#

Aloy had positioned herself high in a tree and continually scanned the area with her Focus and her own eyes. She frozen and held her breath when she heard a familiar clicking, far closer then she’d expected. Glancing to her left, she spotted the creature’s talltale shimmer as it hopped into the next tree over, continuing on as if she wasn’t there. 

Good. The mud was working.

She kept a careful eye on the near transparent monster as she reached into her near empty quiver, not wanting to lose her prey in the dark foliage. Drawing her Tearblast arrow, Aloy notched the compressed air equipped projectile and took careful aim at the creature’s left arm.

#*#*#

After tracking the signal, the Predator had perched himself in a tree and looked up curiously at the massive, slow moving machine before it. He let out a low, thoughtful growl and was about to begin scanning the area for heat signatures. 

Then an arrow struck his left forearm.

The hunter sprang to his feet with a surprised yowl, luckily the primitive missile has done little damage to his armor. He set his mask to tracking the arrow’s trajectory, quickly narrowing the target area. Before he could zero in, however, the arrow still lodged in his decorated forearm armor exploded. The Predator howled in pain and surprise as the small airburst knocked him off balance. Moments later, a more traditional arrow buried itself in the hunter’s side.

Growling in anger, the Predator turned toward where the arrows had come from, his frustration only growing when he couldn’t find any body beat. Nevertheless, he wasn’t about to wait for more arrows to strike.

#*#*#

Aloy had just notched her second arrow, ready to take aim at the creature’s throat this time, when a blast from the monster’s shoulder mounted cannon struck the tree next to hers, exploding with a shower of sparks. This was followed up immediately by a flurry of other blind fired blue-white blasts, blowing apart tree tops around her spectacularly. Partly blinded by the flashes from the explosions, the mud covered girl didn’t notice the lucky shot coming right for her tree until the last second. 

She leapt to the nearest tree top just a breath before the projectile struck home, splinters and sparks pelting her back as she flew through the air. Aloy landed in the next tree, immediately hopping from one branch to the next and finally flinging herself into another treetop for good measure. Satisfied she was out of range of the still ongoing bombardment, Aloy quickly but carefully climbed down from the tree and set off. This time she was hoping the beast followed her.

#*#*#

Having fully vented his aggravation, the Predator took a deep breath and reassessed the situation. His left arm was in a lot of pain; probably sprained, possibly broken. Worse yet, the apparently less then primitive arrow had ruined his cloaking device, computer, and suicide detonator. All this was over shadowed, however, by one very clear realization; the ooman girl had turned the situation around on him.

She was hunting him.

The thought was at once invigorating and infuriating. This ooman had just jumped up from an amusing conversation piece to a prized trophy. Scanning the area with his mask’s motion sensors, the Predator soon zeroed in on a series of swaying tree branches. The hunter pulled the arrow buried in his side free and gave chase.

#*#*#

Aloy nimbly moved through the dark jungle, jumping logs and ducking branches as she went. Her trained hunter’s ears soon caught the sound of large footsteps, though to her surprise it seemed to be coming from in front of her rather then behind. Sure enough, the reptilian brute jumped into view, successfully cutting her off.

“Dammit, he’s fast,” Aloy grumbled as she skidded to a halt. Though she was certain he still couldn't see her, she suspected a human shaped cold spot would be a bit suspicious. Without any hesitation, Aloy dashed the few feet to a nearby tree, bracing herself against it and very slowly drawing her spear.

Even with her coat of muddy camouflage, Aloy felt her heart beating so hard she was almost surprised the beast didn’t hear it as she stood stock still, breath caught, spear clutched in a white knuckled grip as the creature approached. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he approached, carefully scanning the area and causing her heart to skip a beat when his gaze panned right over her. Despite her fear, Aloy was able to notice the familiar green blood dripping from the wound in his side. 

After about a thousand years, the monster had passed by and out of Aloy’s sight. She allowed herself a breath of relief, then turned back toward the glowing blood. Steeling her resolve, she crouched low and followed after the bioluminescent blood trail.

The short trail took Aloy up onto a raised area overlooking a marshy pond, where the creature stood looking over the nearby jungle. Her instincts where telling the muddy huntress that killing the monster couldn’t be this easy, but she couldn’t pass up the chance. Just as she’d done for many a bandit or Eclipse Cultist, Aloy crouched down low and quietly approached, ready to drive her spear deep into her target’s flesh. When she was close enough to smell the creature’s musky odor, the huntress sprang forward to strike.

Then the creature spun on his heel and punched her in the face.

#*#*#

The Predator could just make the outline of his quarry as she crumbled to the ground, having guessed correctly to watch for movement rather then heat. He let out a roar and raised his foot to stomp on her, aiming for the midriff. Unfortunately, the small ooman came out of her daze quicker then expected and rolled out of the way. Undeterred, the hunter quickly reached down as she attempted to crawl away, grabbing her by the ankle just as she managed to get her spear. Shifting his weight, the Predator flung his prey off the small cliff and into the air with a mighty swing and watched as the screaming ooman fell twenty feet to the water below.

#*#*#

Aloy, now sporting a black eye, let out a surprised scream as she suddenly became weightless. Moments later, she was submerged, involuntarily gulping a lungful of water. Righting herself, Aloy swam through the murky cloud that had formed around her and breathed deep when she broke the surface. She blinked the water from her eyes just in time to see the three dots moving purposefully across the water toward her. She was briefly confused until she realized;

The mud had been washed off.

“Shit!” Aloy hissed as she ducked back under the water, a blue-white blast splashing into the swampy pond right where she’d just been. From under the water, she could see the spot where the shot had hit briefly bubble and steam. Another shot was fired right at her, only to also fizzle just below the surface.

It seemed Aloy was safe under the water, but she could hardly wait her attacker out down there. Feeling her lungs start to burn, the redhead dared to swim back toward the surface as a desperate semi-plan began to form in her head. She changed direction at the last second, surfacing and inhaling another breath of precious air as yet another blast stuck the surface where her attacker was expecting her to appear.

The Nora Brave dove back down and swam to the bottom of the pond, spotting her spear on the way. She placed it on her back, than kicked her way to a shallower part of the pond as she drew her bow and one of her last arrows. When there was only about two feet of water between her and the surface, Aloy burst up out of the water and took hasty aim, loosing the arrow at the beast’s head. Not even waiting to see if she’d struck her target, she whirled around and sprinted into the jungle.

#*#*#

The Predator’s mask stopped the arrow, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d been hit in the forehead by a projectile moving three hundred feet per second. He saw stars as he stumbled back and a massive migraine set in, saying something along the lines of ‘Fuck me, that hurts’ in his own language.

He shook his head to clear his vision, even as his mask’s systems continued to glitch for a few moments. The hunter’s double vision and malfunctioning display system both cleared just in time for him to see the ooman girl disappear into the jungle. He shuck his head one last time and moved to give chase.

No more games. It was time to end this hunt.

#*#*#

Aloy fled into a familiar part of the jungle, nervously looking over her shoulder. She knew the monster would be on her heels, and now she didn’t have the mud to cover her body heat. But her mentor Rost had always taught her to be resourceful. 

Remembering her single Freeze Bomb, Aloy pulled it and her Sling from her hip and fired the icy projectile at a branch directly over her head. The bomb detonated on impact, instantly freezing the branch and raining subzero mist down on the girl. Aloy braced herself as best she could for the sudden dramatic drop in temperature and readied her bow and final arrow.

She softly bit down on her lower lip to keep her teeth from chattering and tried to will herself not shiver as the temperature plummeted around her. She could feel her sweat freezing on her skin as the monster strode into the clearing. He stopped short, looking toward her in surprise, but Aloy had a good feeling he was shocked by the cold spot in the middle of a jungle rather then looking at her.

She took carefully aim at the beast’s stomach and loosed her last arrow. The missile had barely struck the creature when Aloy dropped her bow and charged toward him with a warcry, drawing her spear as she rushed forward. She swung at the monster’s head, slicing into his left arm when he moved to block her strike. 

The brute extended the wicked blades fixed to his right wrist and viciously swung at the Aloy, forcing her to jump back. Not about to let up, she sprang back toward him, aiming a stab at her enemy’s side. Unfortunately, the monster again demonstrated a swiftness that beguiled his bulky side, backhanding the spear aside and rushing toward Aloy before she could get away. The beast seized Aloy around the throat and lifted her up nearly two feet off the ground, swatting her spear out of her hand when she tried stab him. She desperately struck his arm, trying to break his grip when panic began to set in. 

The situation was familiar. Too familiar. Gasping for breath against the impossibly strong hand squeezing down on her throat, suspended helplessly in the air, no one to help her, even the chill still clinging to her skin from the Freeze Bomb ploy. As the edges of her vision began to darken, Aloy could swear the impassive mask was briefly replaced with Helis’s cruel, lecherous face. For a brief moment she was back at the Proving Massacre, at the insane cult leader’s mercy. And this time Rost wasn’t coming to save her.

“But I’m not helpless this time,” Aloy reminded herself.

She quickly lifted her right thumb and forefinger to her mouth and used her last ounce of breath to let out the loudest whistle she possibly could, causing the monster to cock his head to the side in confusion.

A second later, the Sawtooth Aloy had overridden burst out of the bushes, it’s new blue coils glowing in the dark and snapped it’s massive jaws around the monster’s midsection. The feline-like machine landed with a crash and tossed the creature into a nearby tree trunk as Aloy fell to the ground, massaging her throat and gasping for air.

Not letting up, the aggressive machine swung on the creature with its massive clawed paws, ripping apart much of his armor. The creature fired a blast from his cannon at the machine but it only slightly damaged the armored hide as the machine pounced toward him. The beast managed to dodge the attack, noticing a green canister on the Sawtooth’s belly.

As Aloy moved to retrieve her spear, the sore, bleeding monster awaited the Sawtooth’s next attack. Predictably, the machine lunged at him again sweeping with his massive metal claws. The beast was slowed by his injuries but just managed to dodge the attack, feeling the wind from the machine’s paw pass over him. In the brief moments the Sawtooth’s underside was exposed, the creature took aim and fired his shoulder cannon at the canister of Blaze on his attack’s chest.

The Sawtooth immediately burst into flame from within, though to the monster’s surprise, still managed to snap it’s jaws down on his already injured left arm. Screaming in rage and pain, he fired another blast, this time into the burning machine’s head. Then another and another. Just to be sure.

#*#*#

A quick check confirmed the Predator’s suspicion that several of his ribs were indeed broken. His left arm would need surgery, even with his race’s highly advanced medicine. He was also bleeding gravely from numerous injuries. 

This ooman, he was sure, was the most difficult prey he’d ever hunted.

At that thought, he turned to see the small, yet formidable, creature standing in a combat stance. He could simply have blasted her with his shoulder cannon and been done with it. But as much as he would of liked too, one did not ‘simply’ kill off such a cunning, resilient foe. She’d earned the honor of a death in combat, as well as a final chance to survive.

The Predator deactivated and then unbuckled his cannon, casually tossing it to the side. He then released the clasps on his mask, taking the armored faceplate off and dropping it at his feet. 

The Predator sank into a fighting stance and let out a bellowing warcry.

#*#*#

“Yeah, fuck you too!” Aloy shouted back.

The two tired warriors charged one another, the monster still demonstrating surprising speed when he deftly deflected a swing form Aloy’s spear, countering with a swing of his wrist blades. Aloy barely managed to avoid having her torso sliced open by dropping to the ground. She rolled aside to avoid a stomp, stabbing back at the monster’s leg. His leg armor managed to defect the blow, but it did force him to back off, buying Aloy time to jump back to her feet.

Deciding on a risky move, the fiery redhead stood defensively, waiting for the monster to attack next. The mandibled creature clicked curiously at Aloy, his small, cruel eyes staring deep into her own green ones. Finally, the monster let out his final battlecry and lunched at the human warrior.

On any other day, Aloy would have been disembowelled, but the creature was exhausted, severely injured, and above all, slowed. Just enough for the young human to spring forward inside his guard. And bury her spear in his stomach. The creature toppled forward with a pained scream, landing on his back at Aloy’s feet.

The huntress pulled her spear loose and seeing the monster about to sweep her legs out from under her, wasted no time stabbing the him where she hoped his heart was with all her might. 

The monster let out one final, earsplitting scream, and then went silent.

Aloy watched carefully as the light faded from the creature’s eyes, breathing a sigh of relief and pulling her now glowing spear free when she was finally sure the monster was dead. She took a step away from the corpse, feeling the tension, fear, and adrenaline quickly fade from her body. She’d done it, the monster was dead. Just as she was about to let out a cry of victory, another set of red dots appeared and zeroed in on her face.

Followed by another.

And another.

And then several more.

A dozen monsters, most as big as the one Aloy had fought so hard against, one bigger, appeared in a near perfect circle around her and her fallen opponent.

“...figures.” A resigned Aloy softly muttered, her spear nearly slipping from her tired hand. Steeling herself, she adjusted her stance for combat and scanned across the new monsters. “Well come on, then! All at once or one at a time?!”

All but the largest monster, also the only one that wasn’t masked, deactivated their cannons and two did indeed step forward. To Aloy’s surprise and cautious relief, however, they made no move to attack, but instead retrieved the body of their fallen comrade.

The two body bearers carried the fallen monster out of the clearing, disappearing as they reached the edge of the improvised dueling ground. Without another glance at Aloy, all but the largest monster, she suspected their leader, followed after them, each disappearing as they left.

At last, the huge creature deactivated his cannon and slowly approached, though not in a threatening manor. Aloy stared defiantly up at the creature towering over her as he reached toward his belt, pulling free a large knife and scabbard, of a style and design she’d never seen before. The lead monster held the weapon out to Aloy in offering and, to her surprise, spoke. “A prize of your victory, ooman.”

Aloy hesitated for a moment, then nodded to the large creature in understanding. She put her spear on her back and took the knife from the leader. Without another word, the large beast turned and followed after his warriors. Aloy looked down at the gifted weapon, pulling it partially from it’s scabbard to see an inscription on the blade.

“Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, 1987”

Aloy looked back up at the lead monster, just in time to see him vanish like his followers. Just over a minute later, she spotted the shimmer left by their cloaking devices, though this time much, much larger rise into the air, where it hovered for a moment and then shot off like an arrow into the sky.

With a tired sigh, Aloy resheathed her new weapon and mentally prepared herself for the long walk back to Meridian. She knew the monsters would return, but when they did, she’d make sure humanity was ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that was Part 2! Hope you enjoyed it, dear reader.  
> Admittedly, I played a little fast and loose with what Aloy's able to do with machines, hope it wasn't a problem, fellow HZD fans.  
> Sigh, two weeks of typing at most a paragraph a day, then I write out nearly this whole thing in a night and a day. My writing style is all kinds of messed up.

**Author's Note:**

> Continued in Part 2, coming soon.
> 
> This is a crossover idea I've had for some time, and was a lot of fun to write. Hope you enjoyed it, dear reader, and stay tuned for the conclusion.


End file.
